NO TIME TO HIBERNATE

AN upsurge of extremism has shaken the foundation of our fledgling democracy recently. Zealots have found convenient bases and are making covert attempts to turn this country into a theocratic state, extinguishing the spirit of the Liberation War.
Certain groups of people have embarked on sinister activities that have generated a feeling that the country is drifting towards a chaotic and anarchic situation. The sermons of some religious clerics might have galvanised the discontented and disenchanted people.
While most people profess to be devout Muslims, they do not shy away from the path of progress and development through education. Religion is an individual's way of life, and when practiced properly is a social and ethical force that distinguishes the right from the wrong. But religion mired in politics can only be sensitive and complicated, because political issues, state authority and acts of parliament can be questioned and resolved but religious codes cannot be questioned. Because fundamentalism or radicalism thrives on poverty, stagnation, backwardness and illiteracy, the government's first prerogative should be solving the myriad economic problems that fuel such dastardly acts.
There have been attempts to whip up fundamentalist fervour and communal frenzy by Jamaat-Shibir activists. Cultural fundamentalism now preached and backed by some Islamist parties seeking political identity has no place in the country. In 2004, when evidence of sinister activities by JMB, JMJB and Huji started surfacing, the administration sidelined the issue.
The then government's indifference and inaction may have inspired the “holy warriors” to wage war against the rule that they call man-made. These groups want to establish an archaic system divorced from the realities of the world. By killing liberal minded people, torching houses of religious minority communities, desecrating temples and vandalising idols, they want to destroy a just society based on religious harmony.
If there was any lingering doubt that the militant groups have graduated from being poorly armed to be the most threatening insurgents, it died first on August 17, 2005 when the country was rocked by synchronised blasts. Because the then administration handled those threats too lightly, Bangladesh now trembles with petrol bomb blasts and cocktail explosions.
Being a moderate Muslim country, we need to take note of the effects of radical sentiment among the lower middle classes and the semi-illiterate and illiterate people. Just think about the strength, organisational ability and unity that Jamaat-Shibir men in Sundarganj village of Gaibandha demonstrated when they ambushed a police team and kept them at bay for five hours when the police went there on January 19 to arrest the alleged culprits in connection with the violence on February 2013.
Think of the amazing success these mentors of religious education have achieved in training young gullible madrasa students in radical thoughts about Islam. Abu Hanifa, a student of class 9 in a Dakhil madrasa in Satkhira, just 16 years old, didn't hesitate to face death in a gunfight with the joint forces when he attempted to blow up a goods-laden truck in Bhomra land port.
Most discussions on the question of radical Islam fail because even moderate Muslims resent any questioning of religious faith. This is where the problem lies. If radical groups have become strong, either in our country or elsewhere in the world, it is because moderates are by and large too afraid to speak up. And it has to be sadly said that they also suffer a siege mentality that makes them partly join the chorus of those who seek to absolve people like Osama bin Laden or his like for the hate campaign and secret bombings launched by them.
Some people claiming to be staunch followers of Islam are propagating dangerous edicts, like “kill in the name of Allah until you are killed. Then you will be in peace forever in paradise.” Devout Muslims are shocked to hear that the name of their faith, which means 'submission to Allah,' can summon up such images of violence. Islam's Holy Prophet Muhammad's (SM) precepts, interpreted as a code of earthly behaviour that should have galvanised Muslim societies with hope of renewal, instead create a fear of upheaval.
If you go to some religious schools which have mushroomed across the length and breadth of the country, you will find that all they teach is Islam and Arabic. There is nothing wrong in knowing about Islam and Arabic, rather it should be mandatory for every Muslim to learn Arabic and understand the Holy Quran and essence of Islam. But polarised education is bad. It has been widely acknowledged that unchecked mushrooming of such schools -- often affiliated to hard line organisations and jihadi groups -- has been the major factor in the spread of the culture of militancy. Children taught to look at the world through a religious prism will always see it divided into believers and infidels.
Islam did not impose itself by the sword. The Quran insists: “There must be no coercion in matters of faith” (Sura Baqara: 2.256). Jihad is not one of the pillars of Islam. The primary meaning of the word jihad is not holy war but “struggle” -- the difficult effort that is needed to put Allah's will into practice at every level -- personal and social as well as political. Prophet Muhammad (SM) often told his companions when they went home after a battle: “We are returning from the lesser 'jihad' (battle) to the greater 'jihad,' the far more urgent and momentous task of extirpating wrongdoings from one's own society and one's own heart.”
Muslims can be proud of their eclecticism and innate capacity for tolerance. And in Sura A'raf Allah has commanded the Muslims “not to transgress the limits” and “not to create mischief on the earth after it has been set in order but they must call Him with fear and longing, for the mercy of Allah is near to those who do good.”

The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.  
E-mail: aukhandk@gmail.com